European Adventurers in North India

1750–1803

Uma Shanker Pandey

• Publisher: Routledge India
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781000145090
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Indian & South Asian History
• Index: History

This book explores how European, particularly French, adventurers shaped early modern India. It highlights the significant contributions of these adventurers in social, political, economic, and intellectual life of north India in the 18th and the 19th centuries. The author examines how the French adventurers played a key role in bringing Western science and ideas to a polity in flux. He examines the role of individuals like René Madec, Sombre, De Boigne, Perron, Gentil, Canaple, Delamarr, Sonson, and Pedrose, who made instrumental contributions in modernising armies of pre-modern states in South Asia. The volume also underlines how French adventurers' commercial networks developing from their enterprises opened up markets in the heartlands of north India for European consumers. Further, it brings to the fore intellectual pursuits of the leading French figures such as Anquetil Duperron, Polier, Gentil, De Boigne, and Perron, whose engagement with Indian literature opened a new chapter framing studies of the Occident.

Rich in French, English, and translated Persian archival resources, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of colonial history, early modern history, military history, and South Asian studies.

1
The early adventurers and the modernisation of warfare in hindustan

In terms of the history of the Indian armed forces, the 18th century can be divided into two neat, though not water-tight halves. Changes occurred in a continuum marked by evolutionary progress. In the first part of the century technological stagnation was evident and was reflected in the kind of firearms being produced and used. The organised application of artillery had nearly fallen into disuse. The primary reason was that the rulers did not pay adequate attention to the adoption of new military techniques unlike those of the 16th and 17th centuries.¹ The result was that the growth and advancement of the indigenous military system, particularly artillery was seriously hampered. These shortcomings were exposed during wars against compact foreign armies equipped with firearms. However, from the second half of the 18th century, significant changes in the military attitude of north Indian native polities become noticeable. The new polities which emerged in the wake of the Mughal decline quickly responded to modern methods of warfare which had made its entry into India with the rise of European companies. The rise of regional polities in the 18th century after the decline of the Mughal Empire is too well-known and their details can be skipped. These militarily alert states not only accommodated modern military techniques in their system, but also contributed to the spread of a new combat culture in the region, and thus ultimately paved the way for revolutionary military changes. The third quarter of the century was the period when the maximum activity happened with the 1760s and 1770s forming the most dynamic decades when lateral mobility and permeation of modern military culture and technology took place across upper India, a phenomenon which reached its apogee in the last decade of the century.

This chapter discusses the militarisation process in north Indian polities initiated with the help of the early European adventurers and its impact on the military landscape of the region as a whole. It shows that Indian rulers had realised that overhauling of the military would be effective only if it were carried out by the state in a concerted and organised manner, for the simple reason that manufacturing firearms and maintaining the forces to be able to use them were expensive tasks. Native states employed European adventurers and gave them considerable latitude to bring in innovations in the prevailing military system. Initially the states employed whole European units. But later the commanders and experts of the units were asked to expand their corps by inducting and training indigenous soldiers. These demands for skilled European men created a military labour market in Hindustan, paving the path for foreign adventurers to migrate to the region in large numbers.

The chapter argues that when the adventurers began to be involved in battles, the focal point of the military layout began to change. The new firearms-laden army became the centre of fighting arrangements in the battlefield flanked by other wings. The cavalry, no longer at centre stage, was placed either in the wings for attack of the rear of the adversary’s army or at the end to defend the formation. The abundant supply of firearms and their skilful use enhanced the striking capabilities of newly trained fighting units. It also greatly impacted the outcome of battles, often tilting the balance in favour of artillery-supported corps. The ‘square formations’ proved to be safe havens which could tactically manoeuvre itself into combating and retreating modes. The chapter argues that the changes occurring in the region were of no mean importance when we look at the response of the English Company to the increasing presence of European adventurers in the region. The chapter also looks into the push-and-pull factors responsible for the movement of the adventurers into the interior part of the country and their consequent employment by enthusiastic local powers.

The early adventurers: in search of opportunities and employment

The second half of the 18th century witnessed a large-scale influx of European military men into north India. The impetus for this was provided by the growing interest of native polities, such as those of the Jats, Ruhelas, Mughals, and of Awadh, in upgrading their armed forces. These states had seen the effectiveness of small, but trained and disciplined troops in the battles of Plassey (1757) and Buxar (1764), where such fighting units had overwhelmed vast assemblies of unorganised armies. They had realised that the possession of militarily skilled troops was an instrument of incisive superiority against the adversaries in wars and would enhance their economic bargaining power. The Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula, who himself had borne the brunt of this new mode of warfare at Buxar, showed greater alacrity in reforming his army by inducting European military professionals in his service. A man of vision, he had begun making efforts in this regard much before Buxar. His first attempt came as early as 1757 when he approached the French officer Law de Lauriston and invited him to join the Awadh service.² Similarly, the Ruhelas also exhibited their eagerness for military changes soon after the Buxar episode, when they made the employment of foreigners a state policy and actually began inducting such men.³ Thus, the growing demand for militarily skilled Europeans in the native polities acted as a critical pull factor in the migration of many Frenchmen to north India. It created employment opportunities for the Europeans in the region. At the same time, the working conditions in the company service were harsh and humiliating and chances of career advancement for low-rank holders limited. The English and French Companies founded in 1600 and 1764 respectively for trading purposes had emerged as rival powers in India in the 18th century for commercial and political gains. Many of their conflicts in Europe and other parts of the world found its extension in India where they fought wars against each other. Many Europeans of modest background sailed to India and took up service in these companies, only to find the chances of career growth stunted. French soldiers thus thought it wiser to push their way into the interiors.⁴ On the other hand, employment in the native states was lucrative as well as an unprecedented opportunity for achieving, not just personal dignity, but even an exalted social status. In native services men who took the plunge and broke away from their European masters rose to the ranks of military generals, mansabdars, jagirdars, and even political negotiators.

India – land of opportunities

Most of the European adventurers who made their way into north India were French.⁵ The reason was that, unlike the English Company which had imposed restrictions on its soldiers that more or less prevented them from joining Indian rulers, the French Company had not. Therefore, desertions from the French Company were comparatively high. However, French soldiers thought of alternative employment opportunities for other reasons as well. Over time, as the French Company went into decline in the wake of its power struggle with the English Company, it suffered financial constraints. Many soldiers either lost their jobs or remained unpaid for many months. Quite a few decided that returning home would not be the best option for them. They knew career prospects there were not encouraging, partly because of the stifling social hierarchy and partly because of the large population. In the latter half of the 18th century France had the second highest population in Europe after Russia. So the French soldiers began to actively explore opportunities in India. For instance, Colonel Pedron joined the Nawab of Awadh after the defeat of the French at Chandernagore in 1756 and served him for 30 long years.⁶ De Vil Maublin, who was present in Mirzapur in 1791, saw India as a land of opportunities. He is recorded to have said that since he could not find suitable employment in France he came to India and had taken up service under the Mughal noble Najaf Khan.⁷

Humble origins

Jean-Baptiste Joseph Gentil, René Madec, Sonson, Delamarr, Charles de Canaple, and Walter Reinhardt or Sombre were among the most well-known of the early adventurers. They originally fought in India for the French Company, but ultimately shifted to north India in search of better career prospects. Most of these individuals came from humble backgrounds and were ordinary soldiers in the Company army. Gentil was the first to be inducted into the service of the Nawab of Awadh. Born in Baignol on 25 June 1726, he arrived in India in 1752 with an infantry regiment and rendered distinguished service under the command of French Company officers, Dupleix, Bussy, Lauriston, and Lally. When the English Company captured Vizagapatnam in 1759, he made his way to Bengal and presented himself to the Nawab Mir Kasim Ali Khan in 1761. Gentil worked for Mir Kasim for some time before leaving the services because of the latter’s bouts of cruelty and joined Awadh in 1763.⁸ His knowledge of Persian proved pivotal in his finding favour at the court there. Sources are not clear on how Gentil learnt Persian. Probably his longer stay in India helped him in getting acquainted with the language. He mentions in his memoir that he was presented to the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and the Nawab was very happy to find a Frenchman who spoke his language.⁹

Madec and Sombre both came from poor families. Madec, born in 1736 in Quimper in the Bretagne province of France, was the son of a cabaratier (owner of a cabaret or a dancing-dining place akin to a tavern). He worked as a cabin boy on the journey to Pondicherry, where he first landed in January 1758. He was recruited by the French Company army because Dupleix was in urgent need of French soldiers in order to combat the English and had asked the captain of the ship to provide him at least 50 mariners who could serve in the artillery. Madec saw a chance to be free of the slave-like life of a cabin boy, and immediately enrolled himself in the artillery wing of the army. At the time of the fall of Pondicherry to the English in 1761, he was captured and deported to Bengal. There he worked for the English Company, but left it because of the exceedingly harsh working conditions.¹⁰

Sombre’s case was no different. Believed to have been born in 1720 in a peasant family of a village close to Trarback, Germany, he started his career as a cavalryman in the French army. Soon he moved to Spain where he boarded an India-bound ship. He arrived in Pondicherry in 1750. Instead of taking up a job in the French Company army where working conditions were difficult, Sombre joined regional forces as a trooper before making his way to Bengal. In Bengal, after a short sojourn in the English Company, he reached Chan...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Glossary
• Introduction
• 1 The early adventurers and the modernisation of warfare in hindustan
• 2 The later adventurers and the French brigades
• 3 The partis français and the increasing military power of Shuja-ud-Daula (1764–1775)
• 4 Chevalier and Shah Alam: facets of diplomatic enterprises in north India
• 5 Commercial, social, and intellectual engagements
• A concluding note
• Appendices
• Select bibliography
• Index